CHECKING IN WITH BEARCAT ALUMNI PLAYING COLLEGE SPORTS

BROOKE MILDER
TATIANA SMELTZER
CORBAN PAYNE
ATIANA STRATMAN
BROOKE MILDER

Softball: Seattle university

Stepping up to the plate, preparing for her third year on the Seattle University softball team, Bearcat alumni Brooke Milder has continued to crush it in her softball career.
Graduating from PRHS in 2019, Milder went on to play second base at Seattle University, while majoring in biology. Making the transition from high school to college, Milder admitted she faced some struggles. “It was honestly a pretty tough transition going from high school/travel softball to college softball. In college we practice more often, much longer, and more intensely so learning how to juggle college athletics with college academics was a difficult but rewarding experience for me,” Milder said. “Because we compete at the highest level in Division 1, pushing yourself to meet the higher expectations and higher level of play requires a lot more hard work and dedication than most people are used to with high school athletics.”
As a junior Milder has racked up a few accolades. In March 2021, Milder was awarded Hitter of the Week for the Western Athletic Conference conference. All three years in college, Milder has been named WAC All Academic for excellence in college classes. Milder’s schedule for spring 2023 will soon be available at at the WAC website.

TATIANA SMELTZER

water polo: csu northridge

Bearcat alumni from the class of 2020, Tatiana Smeltzer, is now a senior at Cal State University of Northridge, competing for their women’s water polo team. Smeltzer in her senior year is studying marketing and business honors, and is on track to graduate in spring of 2023.
“My eligibility and education are a little mixed up because of Covid,” Smeltzer said, “I graduated in 2020 and luckily had a lot of AP classes that transferred to CSUN which meant that I was a sophomore standing as a freshman in college”.
In her 2022 season, Smeltzer was named to the Big West All-Academic team, as well as earning the ACWPC All-Academic honors. Smeltzer played 26 games in 2022 with 8 goals and 10 steals, dominating the pool. Helping her along the way to reach her goals, her “parents and family have been extremely supportive through my entire journey here”, Smeltzer stated, “my highschool Coach Grant East had a major impact as to how I got recruited from coaching me to also introducing me to my current CSUN water polo coach Matt Warshaw.” With her senior year in full swing, Smeltzer is looking forward to her first game of the season on January 21, 2023 against La Verne.

CORBAN PAYNE

TRACK AND FIELD: CAL POLY

Graduating in 2019 alongside Brooke Milder, cat alumni Corban Payne has had a successful journey competing in shot put and discus.
Out of highschool, Payne attended Custa Community College in San Luis Obispo. While there, he was ranked number one in the region for shot put with a mark of 51 feet and number three for discus. After his first year at Cuesta, Payne transferred to Cal Poly SLO to pursue his track field career at the Division 1 level. In 2022 at Poly, Payne had a strong spring season, breaking many personal records. Some of his accolades consist of placing seventh in the shot put and 14th in the discus at the Big West Conference Championship. He also tossed for a career best of 56 feet, 3,25 in in the shot put, placing first at the Cal Poly open.

ATIANA STRATMAN

SOCCER: NORTHWEST MISSOURI STATE UNIVERSITY

Graduating in 2019, now a college junior, Atiana Stratman is currently competing for Northwest Missouri State University Women’s soccer team.
In high school Stratman was captain for PRHS soccer as a senior, as CCAA Mountain All-League Second Team. She won 2019 MVP on varsity soccer, secured the Lion’s Club Award, and took home a Senior Excellence Athletic Award.
Her freshman year in college, Stratman appeared in nine matches and played 107 minutes, earning MIAA Academic Honor Roll. Her season was canceled in 2020 due to Covid, but she played in nine matches again in 2021 for 122 minutes of play. She received the 2021 MIAA Academic Honor Roll again. Her next game is November 11, 2022 in the NCAA tournament vs. Minnesota State.